Chapter 31
"So…do you like him?" Alexis sat perched atop of the outside lunch table, hands spread out on the table behind her, swinging legs crossed at the ankles, chest sticking outwards like a flower turning towards the sun.
Mickey blinked up at her, shielding her eyes with a hand to block the sun. Or, specifically, the rays bouncing off Alexis' dark sunglasses which she'd pulled to the tip of her nose. "Do I like who?" Mickey asked, popping the tab to her can of Coke. The sweet, sticky scent wafted by her nose and ignited her taste buds.
"Him." Alexis jutted her chin out across the quad.
Lifting the can to her mouth, Mickey's eyes swept across the bustling quad, from the football team and the wrestling teams shouting at two people to "Chug! Chug! Chug!" their sodas, to the cheerleading team giggling over tying ribbons and braiding hair over plates of carrots and celery and cans of Diet Coke, to the seniors nearly piled atop of each other laid out in the grass on assorted blankets and towels on the lawn, over to the juniors gathered on the stairs.
Brett sat at the top, bathed in the sunlight raining down on campus on the beautiful fall day. Surrounding him, hanging on to every word, were the rest of his baseball and soccer buddies flanked him in every space available. Alan sat by his side, using his teeth to rip open a bag of Skittles, dumping the bright colored candy into his palm. He shifted a few back into the container and popped the candy into his mouth, rounding cheeks nearly touching his eyes behind the strength of his smile, laughing at something Brett said. He had a great smile. It sucked she didn't get to see it much lately.
Alan turned his head and Mickey sucked down the sweet cold drink in one gulp when their eyes locked, causing her to whip her head around and get taken over by a series of gagging coughs. Pounding a fist on her chest, tears sprang to the corners of her eyes. People at nearby tables barely cast a glance her way. Great, even while she was dying people still didn't notice her. If she keeled over on the ground, they'd probably step over her too. One last slam of her fist to her chest and a large burp flew out her throat.
"Ew! Mickey, stop being so gross!" Alexis's nose wrinkled and her mouth twisted downward.
"Sorry, I'll try to die quietly next time," Mickey mumbled. Setting her Coke back down, she grabbed a few napkins and dabbed at her eyes. Her head jerked up when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Grumbling, she shoved her uneaten sandwich back in her bag (not that she'd touch it anyway, her mother insisted on throwing kale and alfalfa sprouts and watercress on her turkey to keep her in dance shape year-round).
"You never answered my question." Alexis still sat on the table as the students all around her gathered up their things to head inside in one mass movement of limbs and dread. "Do you like him? You've been looking at him a lot lately."
"I have not!" Besides, it wasn't as if Mickey could help that he was in her line of sight when she wanted him to look in his direction. She sighed, picking up her bag. Sometimes it felt like Alexis purposely lead her somewhere just to watch her flounder.
"Yeah you have. You just…stare. You stare a lot."
"That's impossible. I haveta blink…"
Alexis rolled her eyes and jumped down from the table, smoothing her hands over her skirt that barely ended right beneath her fingertips. She should have gotten called to the principal's office for that, it was technically below dress code limits, but after she challenged him on a separate occasion to handle her visible bra straps on his own, he let it go. She'd been pushing the limits ever since. Alexis walked around like she had one over on him. Mickey knew it was really because her father was on the school board.
"Mickey, c'mon. You like him. Just a little."
She heaved out a breath, the remains of her resolve gathering in a pile by her feet. "I mean…yeah." She wouldn't hang out with him so much if she didn't. He was her best friend. Not that Alexis wasn't but Alan was her best friend in a different way. He at least let her breathe. Around Alexis sometimes she felt like she had to ask for permission first.
"Great! This works out."
"It does?"
"Yeah." Alexis slung her arm around Mickey's shoulders and lead her into the school, hips swaying in such an exaggerated manner Mickey didn't know how she walked in such a straight line. "You can go for Brett and I can have Alan."
"Oh." Mickey blinked. Alexis was talking about… Of course. Right. She should have known. Just because Brett had smiled at her once Alexis kept trying to get her to go after him.
A junior.
Not just a junior, but the junior. He was Brett Walker, captain and star of the baseball team, a shoo-in to be scouted when he became a senior, son of the most well-known judge in town, apple of the teachers' eye, Prom King two years straight, head of the debate team and a strong voice in Model UN. And one of Alan's friends. If he didn't notice her before, he wouldn't now.
"But, uhm…I don't think he really likes you. That way. Like that." Actually, Mickey knew for sure he didn't with how many times Alan asked her just why she was still friends with Alexis. She used to think it was because he just didn't want to share her. Now he barely hid his dislike of her.
She grinned. "He will."
Those two words sat like a rock in Mickey's stomach the rest of the day. He will. Like it was a sure thing. Like Alexis could see into the future and know how things would play out. Like she could just…make him like her and take him away from her like that.
Mine.
The fleeting word shook her, stalled her arm reaching in for a textbook, twisting her gut in a way she couldn't ignore. Her tongue slowly lolled out her mouth and she blew a raspberry into her open locker at the stupid thought, giving her head a firm shake for good measure. Take him away from her, like she owned him. How silly. They were just friends; he was going to date someone at some point. She heard the way he talked about Leslie DeBarge and she didn't blame him; she was tall and sweet and outgoing and smart and confident and poised. She could make herself get used to them, but him and Alexis? That one just wouldn't digest.
"Hey." His voice reached her ears the same time the crinkled package of Skittles slid into her view. She snatched it out of his hand and turned as he leaned against the locker next to hers, peering down at her from his slouched position, his bang hanging loosely off one arm. "Wanna go to the arcade?"
Humming, Mickey dumped the candy in her mind, pleased to see only the red ones fell into her palm—her favorites. "What, like skip? Now?" Alan nodded. "School's not over," she pointed out. At the lift to his eyebrow, she continued. "I was gonna go to the library."
"It'll still be there."
She chewed and swallowed before answering. After all, it was rude to speak with her mouth full. "I need to study. We got a big history test comin' up."
Alan snorted. "So? History aint gonna change between today and tomorrow. C'mon." He gave her shoulder a shake and stood up straight. Her stomach fizzed as if she downed another gulp of soda. "I'll even let you go first in Donkey Kong."
"I'll still beat your butt," she said with a teasing grin.
"We'll see. So come on."
"Why do you wanna to go so bad? Is somethin' wrong?"
"No. I just don't feel like sittin' bored in class all day when I can play a few games and get a root beer float." She pulled her lips in and he heaved out a breath. "I have diabetes, I'm not dead. I can have a root beer float."
"I didn't say anything!"
"Your face said it." He reached out and pressed his finger into her forehead. She swatted his hands away.
"Sorry for caring."
"Y'could care a little less."
"If I cared any less I'd be like—" She clamped her mouth shut at the look settling in his eye. It was brief, the hurt forming, and it was replaced with his practiced indifference, but she saw it and the end of her sentence died on her tongue. Like your momma she was going to say. She swallowed the words down, they were bitter on her tongue, and sighed. "I don't think I can go."
"After school then?"
"There's this thing at the country club."
"D'you have to go?"
Mickey's nose wrinkled. Of course not. The idea of stuffing herself into a stiff dress and looking like a straight line and done up baby doll while mingling with a bunch of people with curves and height and mature faces wasn't her idea of fun. But it was expected of her. "Not really. It's some stupid social gathering thing. But Mom wants me to and—"
"Mickey, when are you going to let other people stop controlling your life?" Alan asked after finishing the roll of his eyes. "I'm tellin' ya, you'll be happy the day you get other people's hands out your ass." He made a clicking sound with his teeth and shook his head. "Whatever, you know where to find me." He hoisted his bag higher on his shoulder and stalked off.
Mickey watched him all the way down the hallway until he disappeared around the corner. Groaning, she leaned forward and pressed her against the shelf in her locker. The bag of Skittles squeaked and crinkled in her fist, faint traces of the red sweetness still coated her tongue.
She had a test coming up. History wasn't her best subject, there were too many dates and names to remember, and her parents were on her about her grades in the class. But…maybe Alan was right. Studying in the library was the only chance she had to get time to herself, and she wanted to give it back to the school? After school ended, she'd be whisked away to the country club and then to dance practice and then finally around nine she'd get home and have to eat, do homework, and get to sleep at a decent hour to wake up and do it all over again? Going to the arcade did sound like fun and when was the last time she got to do what she wanted with her time?
She dumped the rest of the candy in her mouth, chomped down on it all at once, and grabbed her bag from her locker. The slam of metal against metal bounced along the empty hallway she raced down, the sound clawing at her heels but she outran it. One quick turn of the corner, down another flight of stairs, and ducking past the offices and she burst outside, taking in the fresh air of freedom.
"Took ya long enough."
Her grin matched his as Alan peeled himself away from the brick wall, flicking away the cigarette he'd removed from his mouth. "Had to make you sweat a little," she said.
As he crushed it with the tip of his smudged Converse, he blew a stream of smoke. "Wait here."
"Hurry up," she insisted. Her eyes darted around, waiting for her mom to pop out of the bushes somewhere or come racing down the street. Her fingers curled into her palm and stretched out, one by one, in an undulating wave.
He came around the corner a minute later, coasting on his bike. "Your chariot awaits, Princess." Alan planted his feet on the ground, steadying the bike between his legs. "What?"
Crap, she was smiling like an idiot. But what else was new when she was around him? He was her friend, she was supposed to be happy with him. Still, she blamed the pleasant fizzing coming back to her stomach. But he was used to her being sentimental, or sappy as he called it, so she shrugged and told the truth. "Nothin'. I just…I like it when you call me that."
He was silent for a moment, his tongue dragging against his lower lip and then he ducked his head, scratching behind his head and clearing his throat. "...Don't expect me to be carryin' 'round a glass slipper or nothin'."
She held her hands up, holding in a laugh. "I won't." He motioned to the front of the bike where she settled on the handlebars. He placed his hands over hers and she leaned back against his chest, strong and sturdy and steady, finding her balance against him.
The bike started forward with a jerk, and she held on tighter. His laugh rumbled by her head. She looked up at him, following the red swimming up his neck, settling in his cheeks, lighting up the honey tones in his eyes. "Don't worry, I got you."
a/n - Another blast from the past because I love writing them pre-CGL and pre-breakup so much. The denial is strong with them, which only makes me cackle at their present day CGL selves. The next chapter'll be out soon because this flashback was originally nestled in the next chapter but I felt it stood better on it's own. It features Zero being a smug little shit which is fun and I can't wait for you all to see that considering it deals with the aftermath of the kiss and someone mentioned in this chapter plays a large part in things going forward. Can you guess who?
~CM